SI.com's Ryan Hunt takes a poke at answering a few baseball questions.

BQ	Why must the Expos be treated like this?

Sit in the outfield seats at Hiram Bithorn, and you'll probably be rewarded with a souvenir. AP You can't help but feel sorry for the Expos. Their superstar is hurt and they still don't have a home for 2004. At least Montreal has some idea of when it will get Vlad back. As for the team's future, who knows? But with each passing day, the likelihood of the Expos having to return to Puerto Rico next season increases. And that's a shame. Baseball probably has made more money with its Puerto Rico experiment. But it's come at the expense of a brutal travel schedule -- the Vagabonds are in the midst of a 26-day, two-country road trip that will take them to seven different cities before they return to Montreal -- and actual baseball scores that would make Coors Field blush. The Hiram Bithorn Stadium -- or Home Run Bithorn as it has been dubbed -- is a joke. With cozy dimensions of 399 feet to center, 315 to left and 313 to right, it's making guys such as Jeff DaVannon look like sluggers. DaVannon, who had all of 11 career homers entering Puerto Rico, hit four of the Angels' 15 home runs in their three-game series. In all, there have been 63 homers -- nearly double the major league average on the mainland -- and an average of 11.6 runs (compared to 7.9 in Montreal's non-San Juan games) in the first 16 games at the ballpark And for what? The crowds in San Juan have been decent -- an average of 14,248 after 16 games -- given the economic situation in Puerto Rico. And despite three sellouts against the Rangers, the Expos didn't draw more than a Devil Rays-eque 10,600 against the defending champion Angels. At Olympic Stadium, the Expos are averaging 11,338. Baseball says it doesnt want to make a hasty and regrettable longterm decision by relocating the Expos too quickly, and that's fine. But in the short term, the Expos' chances of any success may be left in Customs.

BQ	Who is the Astros' hidden MVP?

You know what the Jeff Kents, Lance Berkmans and Roy Oswalts are going to bring you. So why was the insertion of a .242 hitter into the Astros' potent everyday lineup such a big deal? For Adam Everett, it's a glove story. Since Julio Lugo was waived on April 30 -- and Everett earned the starting job -- Houston has been a totally different team. With Lugo, the Astros were 11-15. They are 25-13 since. Coincidence? Lugo, to put it nicely, has the type of hands only a toaster could love. And while Everett has made five errors in Houston -- only one fewer than Lugo's total this season -- his presence in the middle has been a stabilizing force. With Everett's superior range (his zone rating is nearly 100 points higher than Lugo's) double plays are way up in Houston. And ERA's are way down. With Lugo in the lineup, Astros pitchers had a 4.30 ERA. With Everett, it's down to 3.80. And when you're facing a lineup like the Astros, you need every run you can get.

BQ	Who's the week's most intriguing prospect brought up from the minors?

Pardon us if we take a pass on the Jose Reyes Hype Machine. We're thinking bigger. Literally. It was hard to ignore Adam Dunn's arrival in 1999, when he came up and smashed 19 homers in 66 games. If the Twins get anything close to that from Justin Morneau, watch out. It's not a stretch. Morneau has similar size (he's a 6-foot-4, lefty-swinging monster) and similar credentials. He was rated the best first base prospect and best pure-hitting first baseman in the minors in 2002 by Baseball America. And he slugged 19 homers with 42 RBIs in a combined 57 games at Class AA and AAA. Minnesota called up the Canadian native and started him at designated hitter on Tuesday against Colorado. He will have a tough time breaking into the Twins' already young and impressive everyday lineup. But if he continues his power onslaught -- like Dunn did -- Morneau may force the Twins to play him.

BQ	How is the Adam Dunn experiment going?

Bob Boone raised some eyebrows when he put Dunn, the NL's leading home run hitter, into the leadoff spot. Especially considering Dunn is barely hitting above the Mendoza Line. But for the Reds, the move seems to be having some early success. In nine games in the No. 1 hole, Dunn has a .429 on-base percentage -- a cool 124 points higher than what Cincinnati was getting out of light-hitting shortstop Felipe Lopez.

 

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